Who is behind psn hack

This claim is backed up by various posts on the web purporting to be of Anonymous discussing their penetration of Sony's servers. One such chat log dating back to February is here. If we allow ourselves to speculate for a bit, it seems likely that Anonymous was targeting Sony for a bit of its usual mischief making, which usually involves a DDoS attack on the servers of an organisation that has annoyed its collective hive mind for some reason or other: like those financial institutions that backed out of processing payments intended for WikiLeaks.

Anonymous likes to parade under the banner of protecting free speech and defending the individual from corporate might. However, what Anonymous discovered chez Sony were vulnerabilities so enticing that some of its number proved unable to resist the temptation to plunder the network of all the potentially - and criminally - lucrative data they could lay their hands on. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon.

PSN users rushed to change their passwords elsewhere - but could not alter their details on PSN itself as the service remained offline. Within 24 hours, the first class action lawsuit had been filed.

Meanwhile, analysts were quick to point out the huge task Sony had ahead of it to regain user trust. In the days that followed, PSN stayed offline. Anonymous was implicated in the attack , the UK government weighed in and promised an investigation from the Information Commissioner's Office, and Sony Corporation boss Sir Howard Stringer posted an open letter of apology.

On 1st May, Sony hosted a press conference in Tokyo to outline the new security measures it was implementing. More apologies were offered, and a "Welcome Back" programme for PSN customers was outlined for when the service resumed. Sony also said it would offer subscribers a year of free identity theft protection. Many were pleased at the announcements, although some PS3 owners complained they had all the titles on offer already. New PSN security measures promised included higher levels of data protection and encryption, additional firewalls plus new early warning software.

But questions remained around how hackers had managed to access the information in the first place. Evidence uncovered in the days following pointed to Sony's systems previously being "obselete" and "long-outdated" - charges which Sony subsequently flatly denied. However, a later report suggested Sony had let go security staff prior to the attack and ignored warnings that a privacy breach was possible. By mid-month, Sony was beginning to restore PSN functionality in phases, region by region, service by service.

Gamers weren't the only ones affected. Sony was forced to apologise to developers whose game launches were disrupted by the attack , or whose online services were rendered unavailable.

Capcom exec Christian Svensson was one of few to speak publicly , memorably complaining he was "frustrated and upset" the publisher was down "hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars". Others were less fazed. Inevitably, when PSN did return, there were several days of teething problems as all users were made to request a password reset via email - which then crashed Sony's email server.

PSN bounced back, adding another three million users in the four months following the attack. Jack Tretton, then Sony US boss, tackled the issue head on at the start of Sony's E3 press conference , apologising again for the "anxiety caused". I want to apologise personally. It's you that causes us to be humbled and amazed by the support you continue to give. Sony at one point faced 55 class action lawsuits and eventually agreed to offer up further compensation for those affected.

Details of this took until last year to be finalised , by which time PS3 had long been replaced, and the success of PS4 had made the whole saga a distant memory. But Sony is still upgrading its systems - just last week, Sony announced it would finally introduce two-step verification , three years after Microsoft did the same for Xbox Live.

There have been no widespread security breaches since, although console networks remain vulnerable to concerted DDOS attacks - as seen when both PSN and Xbox Live failed over Christmas Watching the PSN hack unravel from the sidelines and seeing Sony pick up the pieces, I can't remember another event to affect so many gamers simultaneously and - at the time, at least - cause so many to worry for their own details' safety. For PlayStation owners, developers and Sony itself, here's hoping there's never another situation quite like it.

It seems like it was ages ago, and even though we know LulzSec was behind it, no one has been punished for our suffering. Four men have now pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London, to charges relating to the attacks on the CIA, UK crime agencies and taken responsibility for the hacking of over 70 million Sony accounts.

Cleary has also pleaded guilty to separate charges including the hacking of US Air Force computers at the Pentagon. Missed the recent PlayStation Showcase? A spooky European village. Properly scary castle mania. The only thing more frightening, is a glimpse at your empty bank account when it comes to deciding whether or not you can grab Resident Evil Village this month.